


Running Into You

by mystic_legacies



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-06-30 11:12:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19851973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mystic_legacies/pseuds/mystic_legacies
Summary: There are few times when Penelope Park gets scared which is why she felt confident hanging up on MG as she walked home alone late at night. But when the echo of footsteps taunt her from behind, she was never more terrified of what was coming at her and what it would bring. After a silent coffee date, a drunk hook up, and an awkward confrontation, Penelope realizes that her fear of the unknown and fear of falling for someone was something she'd need to overcome faster than she'd like.





	Running Into You

“MG, I promise I’ll be okay. I’m only two blocks away from my apartment,” Penelope laughs into the phone, shaking her head at his excessive worry. As much as she appreciates her friend’s level of care, she has to admit, he can be a bit overprotective at times.

“Look, all I’m saying is be careful. I know you’re a badass and all, but you never know what creeps could be lurking around at this time at night,” MG points out.

Penelope lets out a sigh, knowing he’s right. “I know you just want to make sure I’m okay, and I promise you I am. But to be honest, I think I’m attracting more attention to myself by talking to you, so I’m going to hang up now.”

“Peez,” he calls out warningly.

“I’ll call you the second anything seems wrong. I promise.”

Knowing how stubborn Penelope can be, MG lets out a defeated sigh that makes Penelope grin on the other side of the phone. “Fine,” he grumbles, “make sure you text me when you get home.”

“You know I will.”

“I’m counting on it.”

“Bye, MG.”

“See you tomorrow.”

As Penelope pushes her phone into her back pocket, she looks up at the night sky and smiles at the stars. After spending a long day crammed inside the school library, she was happy to have her surroundings lit up by something other than fluorescent lights. The mere thought of waking up early to spend two hours crammed inside a classroom for her psychology test tomorrow made her shiver with discomfort.

“Wait, what room is the test in?” Penelope asks herself before pulling out her phone, cursing her college’s odd testing procedures.

Just as Penelope’s fingers begin typing a message to MG, the faint echo of footsteps pounding against the pavement causes her to freeze. Immediately, she spins around to see where the noise is coming from, but when nobody comes into sight, she suddenly wishes she was still talking on the phone with MG because he, at the very least, could’ve called for help if she couldn’t.

Penelope squints her eyes closer together in an attempt to see further into the distance and is shocked to make out a black figure running towards her direction, their footsteps rapidly sounding louder and louder to Penelope’s ears. Her heartbeat picks up speed, and she silently debates trying to outrun her attacker or standing her ground to fight. Penelope knows the first option is the most logical one, but she was never one to follow the rules, so she positions her left foot in front of her right and gets into a fighting stance. Slowly, her curls her hands into fists and cautiously watches the sprinting figure get closer.

As the distance between the stranger and Penelope shrinks, the faster Penelope’s heart pounds against her chest. In an attempt to calm it down, a shaky breath escapes her lips, and she tries to tell herself that everything will be okay. “Maybe they’re just going on a run,” a part of her tries to reason, but deep down, she knows that nobody could possibly be exercising at one o’clock in the morning. So, Penelope prepares herself for the worst possible scenario.

When the figure’s strides suddenly falter, Penelope can’t help but cock her head to the side as she watches them come to a stop a few feet in front of her. “I’m sorry,” a female voice wheezes out, clearly out of breath. The stranger takes slow steps towards Penelope with their hands held up in surrender, and it almost makes Penelope drop her guard. But with the darkness of the night masking the person’s face, Penelope remains silent, leaving room for the person to explain themselves. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Why were you running at me then?” Penelope challenges.

The person continues taking slow steps forward until they emerge under the brightness of a lone streetlight, and once Penelope sees their face, her level of concern wavers. The girl was nothing like Penelope expected. The stranger had wavy brown hair, eyes that glowed with innocence, and a pouty smile that would make anyone’s heart melt.

“This is going to sound really dumb, but I was running because I’m afraid of the dark,” the girl sheepishly admits, looking down at the ground to hide the blush creeping onto her cheeks.

Penelope almost scoffs at the girl’s words, finding it hard to believe, but when she sees that the girl is serious, she’s speechless. So, instead of calling out the girl for lying, Penelope tries to hide the small smile teetering on her lips for the sake of the stranger’s dignity.

The humor of the situation almost makes her let her guard down again, but when she remembers the potential danger of the situation, she quickly sobers up and ignores the sudden warmth enveloping around her heart.

“Wait, aren’t you in my psychology class?” the stranger suddenly asks. “On Monday and Wednesday with Mrs. Whittaker? Your name’s Penelope, right?”

“Um, yeah. I guess so.” Penelope scratches the back of her neck, trying to remember if she’s seen this girl before. She racks her brain for any memory of the girl standing in front of her but considering the fact that she’s usually asleep in that class and the classroom is filled with one hundred students, her mind comes up blank. She begins to wonder if the stranger is lying because Penelope knows she would never forget a face as pretty as hers.

“My name’s Josie,” the girl says with a smile while stepping further into the light to shake Penelope’s hand.

Instinctively, Penelope sticks her hand out and interlaces it with Josie’s. “Nice to meet you, Josie. I’d tell you my name, but I guess you already know it,” she awkwardly laughs, silently cringing at her lame attempt at a joke.

Luckily, Josie gives her a soft smile that washes away Penelope’s worries and quickly changes the topic, “Are you ready for the test tomorrow?”

“I’d like to believe I am, but to be honest, I’m probably not. I suck at psychology.”

“No matter what, I’m sure you’ll do great!” Josie tries to convince her with an encouraging smile.

Penelope gives her a grateful look and tries to match the amount of energy Josie was radiating, but it was one o’clock in the morning and Penelope’s body was screaming for her to go to bed. “Well, if I have any hope of doing good, I should probably head home and get some sleep,” she trails off, trying to find a polite end to their conversation.

Josie’s eyes widen once she realizes she was probably bothering Penelope and quickly apologizes, “Yeah, definitely. Sorry for scaring you earlier.”

“Don’t worry about it. Good luck with the test tomorrow,” Penelope says with a wave while turning around towards the direction of her apartment. As she begins taking steps away, she faintly Josie’s voice whisper goodbye before the sound of running footsteps replaces it. Penelope shakes her head at the noise and finally lets the smile she’d been suppressing come out.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfic I've ever written, and it's also the first time I've written anything creative in a while, so I may be a bit rusty. Feel free to let me know how I can improve in the comments. Hope you enjoyed it!


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